Amid the race to become “AI-first,” many organizations mistake technical adoption for transformation. This executive roundtable reframes roadmapping through a product leadership lens. Leaders will explore how to ground AI strategy in real business outcomes,define the problem/the why before picking tools, and apply proven product principles to fast-moving technology decisions.

• Anchor AI investments in clear business value
• Focus on defining the problem before the model
• Apply timeless product leadership to evolving AI strategy
• Cut through hype to enable sustainable transformation

Emotion and empathy are the ultimate differentiators in creating exceptional experiences. This conversation explores how leaders can design for both efficiency and human connection to create interactions that resonate, inspire trust, and drive loyalty, whether with a human or AI-driven agent. Leaders will discuss how to balance data with intuition and empathy to ensure technology enhances rather than replaces the emotional core of experience.

• Blend emotional insight with technological foresight
• Design experiences that inspire trust and connection
• Translate empathy into measurable business outcomes
• Elevate emotion as a driver of transformation

Join David Gise, SVP & Head of Hospitality and Amenities, as he shares how he’s navigating RXR’s journey to becoming an AI-first organization and transforming the way teams work, innovate, and deliver exceptional, personalized customer experiences. He’ll share how RXR evolved from department-level experiments to a company-wide AI strategy, focusing on how to start with the problem—not the tools—to drive meaningful, human-centered innovation. Attendees will learn how to leverage AI to enhance workflows, empower teams creatively, and measure impact as the company embraces AI-first thinking across every function.

• Scaling from departmental pilots to enterprise-wide adoption in an AI-first company.
• Measuring impact and demonstrating value across teams and functions.
• Empowering employees safely and creatively with AI tools and platforms.
• Building knowledge-sharing frameworks and repositories for best practices.

Step into the future of customer and employee experience with a case study focused on Agentic AI. Explore how cutting-edge AI is transforming contact center and back-office workflows, and gain practical insights in how to separate the hype from the reality. Through guided discussions and real-world examples, participants will identify where to make strategic first bets, uncover practical approaches for piloting autonomous agents, and discover how to balance automation with human judgment to drive measurable impact.

• Insights into piloting autonomous agents across CX and operational workflows.
• How to discern the “hype” from reality in emerging AI capabilities.
• Strategies for determining the right areas to deploy autonomous agents first.
• Practical tips for balancing automation with human-driven decision-making.
• Cross-industry peer-driven perspectives on lessons learned and best practices.

With every organization experimenting with AI and automation, separating signal from noise is critical. We spend a lot of time discussing how to implement, what to implement, and sharing success stories, but less so on the challenges or moments of disappointment. This space is dedicated to fostering a candid dialogue around what’s delivering measurable improvements versus what’s still stuck in the hype cycle. Leave with grounded insights into how to create a roadmap and where to focus your time, investment, and resources. 

AI and automation are transforming how leaders work, make decisions, and support their teams. In this session, you’ll have the chance to share your own challenges around how these shifts have impacted your day-to-day, stretched your leadership style, driven agility, or conversely, created new obstacles. From there, we’ll expand to the workforce level: what does it take to sustain engagement, empower people through uncertainty, and build and foster resilient, future-ready cultures?